57: Chapter 57 Ten Bounty Orders

The Grand Line, sea breeze whistling.

A giant News Coo pierced through the clouds and landed on the dark gold wapol metal railing of ship.

It had a leather mailbag hanging from its neck; its beak opened, spitting out a thick paper roll.

The paper roll hit the metal deck with a dull thud. The News Coo did not linger; it flapped its wings, quickly ascended, and disappeared at the end of the blue sky.

Nami stepped down from the helm in her leather boots.

She bent down to pick up the paper roll and tore off the hemp rope wrapped around it.

A pungent smell of cheap ink instantly rushed to her face.

The paper roll was unfurled.

A full ten brand-new wanted posters rustled in the sea breeze.

At the top of each paper, the bright red words [DEAD OR ALIVE] were printed.

"Rice."

Nami's water-like eyes shrank slightly. Looking at the number on the top bounty poster, her breathing paused for a brief moment.

Rice turned around from the bow. He was barefoot, stepping on the dark gold deck.

His bronze upper body was exposed to the sun, the muscle texture like cast pig iron.

He took long strides to Nami's front and took the stack of bounty posters.

The World Government's actions were surprisingly fast.

They completely bypassed the Marineford's routine review process, directly characterizing the Alabasta incident and issuing a kill-on-sight order to the entire sea.

The White Dove Adventure Group, this hunter group that originally drifted in the gray zone, became a terrorist organization built on bounty amounts across the ocean overnight.

Rice lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over the ten bounty posters.

The first one.

In the photo, Rice was pinching Crocodile's neck with one hand, smashing him heavily against the Poneglyph in the underground royal tomb.

Those violent black eyes peered out from the paper, and the black iron fist wrapped in blue lightning radiated a lawless arrogance.

[White Dove Adventure Group Captain · Rice].

Bounty: 500 million Berries.

World Government annotation: Single-handedly abolished a Shichibukai, forcibly seized the Nefertari royal family's underground secret chart. An extremely dangerous violent element.

The second one.

The photo showed a woman wearing a white cowboy hat and a tight purple leather outfit.

[Devil Child · Nico Robin].

Bounty: 80 million Berries.

Annotation: Ohara survivor, possesses forbidden knowledge to decipher Poneglyphs, threatens the underlying rules of the world.

The third one.

The photo was frozen in the outskirts of Alubarna. Alvida held a fencing sword in both hands, blood dripping from the blade, and dozens of Baroque Works agents lay dead at her feet.

[Sea Stone Swordsman · Alvida].

Bounty: 80 million Berries.

Annotation: Proficient in weapon control, poses a lethal physical threat to all Devil Fruit users.

The fourth one.

[Poison Thorn · Paula].

Bounty: 60 million Berries.

Annotation: Former core agent of Baroque Works, defected openly, possesses high-risk espionage sabotage power and stealth assassination ability.

The fifth one.

[Gravity Woman · Mikita].

Bounty: 55 million Berries.

Annotation: Gravity rules have undergone unknown mutations, capable of releasing over 10,000 kilograms of physical pressure, possesses large-scale heavy firepower destruction characteristics.

The sixth one.

The photo was a profile of Nami leaning over a desk in the navigation room drawing maps.

[Cartographer · Nami].

Bounty: 45 million Berries.

Annotation: Relying on rare cartography talent, perfectly replicated the underground royal secret passage that had disappeared for hundreds of years. Judged to possess the potential to find blueprints for Ancient Weapons.

The seventh one.

[Surgeon · Nojiko].

Bounty: 35 million Berries.

Annotation: Used ancient tropical herbs to crack the fatal frostbite of Drum Kingdom, rendering Marineford's biochemical special toxins ineffective.

The eighth one.

In the photo, Vivi was wearing ordinary linen clothes, holding a mop to clean up bloodstains on the deck.

[Defector Princess · Nefertari Vivi].

Bounty: 30 million Berries. Annotation: Alabasta princess, abandoned royal status to board the ship, judged to be a dangerous political defector.

The ninth one.

The photo was taken by the bonfire at the celebration party, with Makino holding that beaked eggbeater, devouring scrap metal.

[Living Weapon Operator · Makino].

Bounty: 25 million Berries.

Annotation: Controls a living Devil weapon that devours all scrap metal, in charge of physical reorganization for warship logistics.

The tenth one.

The photo showed a small reindeer with a blue nose and a pink top hat, looking shocked while holding a cotton candy.

[Pet · Tony Tony Chopper].

Bounty: 50 Berries.

Annotation: A rare pet raised by the White Dove team, suspected of possessing simple bandaging skills.

"Five hundred million..."

Paula stood to the side, looking at the number on Rice's bounty poster, her voluptuous body trembling slightly.

In the first half of the Grand Line, a bounty over 100 million was already a legendary existence.

A figure of 500 million was enough to make those monsters in the New World cast their gaze over.

Vivi looked at her own bounty poster, a flash of determination in her sky-blue eyes.

She reached out both hands and tore off the pure gold necklace around her neck that represented her royal status.

The necklace drew an arc in mid-air and fell into the cold seawater with a splash.

"From today on, there is no princess of Alabasta. Only a crew member of the white dove."

Vivi spoke, her voice as hard as a blade.

"Hey! Vivi! What a waste, my necklace!"

Nami let out a scream.

In the corner, Chopper hugged the bounty poster with 50 Berries written on it tightly with both hooves, his furry face covered in tears.

"I am a doctor! I am not a pet! Why is it only fifty Berries!" The little reindeer collapsed on the deck, limbs twitching powerlessly.

Rice didn't speak.

His right hand suddenly exerted force. Crack. The ten bounty posters were crushed into a ball of waste paper by him.

"Just a few pieces of scrap paper."

Rice threw the paper ball into the sea casually.

He raised his head, his black eyes staring at the surging horizon ahead: "Since they have set a price for me, then I will use the armor of this ship to smash all the rules of this sea to pieces."

...

Night fell.

The sea breeze of the Grand Line carried a thick salty fishy smell, raging in the darkness.

The huge dark gold hull of ship, like a silent steel behemoth, cut through the waves steadily on the sea surface.

The armor shell forged from wapol metal canceled out all the impact of the waves.

Second floor of the main cabin, navigation room.

Outside the thick windproof glass windows, it was pitch black.

Inside the cabin, a storm lantern hanging on a copper bracket emitted a dim yellow halo.

The wide mahogany drafting table was covered with various nautical charts, measuring compasses, and stainless steel triangles.

Nami stood in front of the table.

She held a charcoal pencil in her hand, calculating the magnetic deflection angle when the Log Pose pointed upwards during the day on a blank piece of parchment.

Click. The mahogany door of the navigation room was pushed open.

Rice walked in barefoot.

He had just finished 10,000 weighted squats on the deck. His bronze upper body was covered in crystal-clear sweat. The sweat slid down the raised muscle lines and dripped onto the floor.

Nami stopped the charcoal pencil in her hand.

She turned around, her clear water-like eyes looking at this man exuding violent heat in front of her.

Her gaze swept over the few old scars on Rice's chest, over those black iron palms that could crush an Admiral's ice blade.

There was no verbal communication.

Nami walked to the door.

Click.

She stretched out her lily-white fingers and locked the heavy brass door tightly.

Turning back, Nami stood under the dim oil lamp.

She was only wearing a thin silk camisole. Her fair collarbones were exposed to the air.

She stretched out both hands and pinched the edge of the camisole.

It slipped off, silently piling up on the wooden floor at her feet.

He took long strides and walked forward.

The strength in his fingers was immense, instantly leaving a few red finger marks on Nami's fair skin.

Rice exerted force with one arm, lifting this light, delicate body directly, and turned to walk towards the wide mahogany table covered with nautical charts.

Bang.

Nami's back hit the soft mattress.

Several parchment nautical charts were pressed underneath, making a crisp folding sound of paper.

Under this superhuman force, the mahogany emitted an unbearable high-frequency creaking sound.

One hour. Two hours. Three hours.

Finally.

The storm declared an end.

The night was deep. ship, protected by its dark gold armor, continued to advance steadily towards that unknown sea area.